Reb gong

(116) Zhwa khra Temple

Zhwa khra Temple is located in the Zhwa khra village which is 18 km south of
the county town of gCan tsha. Bonpo community in this area is small. According
to oral tradition, a tribe called Zhwa khra, was banished during the
persecution of Bon religion by King Khri srong lde btsan. They arrived in gCan
tsha after having settled in sGong dkam village of Reb gong for many
generations. There was a series of chiefs starting from gYung drung rnam rgyal
through Tshul khrims bstan ’dzin, gYung drung rgyal mtshan, rGya mtsho, dMar
ris, gYung drung rgyal, Tshe thar and Khro rgyal. The latter became a monk and
a nephew of his took his place to be the chief of the tribe.

A monk of La mo bde chen, a large dGe lugs pa monastery located in the same
area, went to Lhasa for studying. He was kown as Zhwa khra Lha rams pa when he
obtained the degree of lha rams dge bshes in Lhasa. Nobody
seems to remember his real name today. He had a Ma ni khang built in Zhwa khra
village when he came back from Lhasa, and the Ma ni khang was shared by both
Buddhist and Bonpo people for centuries. The date of the foundation is not
clear, but, according to dBang grags, a retired leader of gCan tsha county and
comes from Zhwa khra village, and some old Bonpo such as Padma Tsering who were
from the village as well, the Ma ni khang was founded about eight generations
ago.

A lay Bonpo tantric called rNam thar rgyal had a statue and thangka of the
divinity dBal gsas made in the Ma ni khang, and so tantrics of both Buddhists
and Bonpo practised together for many years.

Today, there are eighteen lay tantrics in the Ma ni khang. They practise both
Buddhism and Bon relgion. Ma ni khang has forty-two families as its local
community. And then, rNam thar rgyal finally founded a Bonpo temple in the
village called mTsho kha near Zhwa khra village and this was how Bon religion
began to spread there. The temple was damaged in middle of the twentieth
century and has not been yet rebuilt.

Another Bonpo lay tantric called rDo rje founded a new and small Bonpo temple
separately in Zhwa khra village in the second half of the twentieth century to
follow rNam thar rgyal’s example. rDo rje has his family and a few followers.
In the temple, the ritual cycle of dBal gsas is performed from to time to time.
There are no regular rituals either in the Ma ni khang or the gSas khang.

Source

(1) Interviews

Interview in 1996 with : dBang grags and Padma Tsering, a lay tantric,
both from Zhwa khra village